By IANS,
New Delhi : In a crackdown on tobacco use and sale, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Friday asked its own schools, offices, and health centres to tighten anti-tobacco measures in their respective nearby areas.
“The authorities are supposed to impose heavy fine on anybody found smoking or chewing tobacco. Necessary steps need to be taken to enforce laws in all MCD premises,” Delhi Mayor Rajni Abbi said in a letter to civic commissioner K.S. Mehra.
“Strictly enforce the anti-tobacco measures in all MCD offices, schools, and hospitals. All the 12 zones should be instructed to give a report regarding any small shop or pavement shops near schools in their areas within a week,” Abbi added.
According to a 2009 study by the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, India has nearly 274.9 million tobacco users — around 35 percent of the population.
As per the Delhi Prohibition of Smoking and Non-Smoker’s Health Protection Act, 1996, and the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, smoking is banned at public places.
The laws also prohibit sale of tobacco products to minors and sale within a hundred metres radius of a school.